Will Corbyn’s Opposition Cost Khan His London Mayor Seat?

30/10/201527/11/2015 by Voice of London

Labour leader and North Islington MP, Jeremy Corbyn has been a long time opponent of the Trident nuclear weapons programme. During debates surrounding its renewal, he backed the Scottish Labour Party to vote against it.

Words: Izza Hina, Subeditor: Corey Armishaw

In an interview with The Guardian, he stated that by not supporting the renewal at the Labour Party’s Scottish conference, he hopes to change Labour policy at Westminster.

Corbyn has been warned of a rift among the Scottish Labour Party, as many members have opposing views. Jim Murphy, previous leader of the Scottish National Party between 2014 -2015 has extensively backed the renewal.

Scottish Labour Party politicians Neil Findlay and Katy Clark are both campaigners for nuclear disarmament. MP and Mayor of London hopeful Sadiq Khan, has backed the commitment to renew the deterrent. This opposition could prove to be damaging to Khan’s Mayoral candidacy, as a rift amongst major party faces has never proved to be beneficial.

In the 2016 London Mayoral Election, the issues most likely to be raised will be Housing and Tax. Issues that affect people on a day-to-day basis. So where does Corbyn’s urge to debate Tridant stand?

According to the BBC, scrapping Trident would result in an estimated 15,000 jobs being lost. The Trade Union has voted yes towards the renewal, therefore leading to Corbyn facing his first major defeat as a leader.

Jeremy Corbyn is the Vice President of CND (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament) who are holding a demonstration on 4th November urging people to join in the cause and sign the petition to scrap Trident.